Visions of Heroes
by StormesJay
Summary: It doesn't look good for the Storm Hawks when they find five bombs in a ship wreckage. Will they survive? Read to find out! PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS AND REVIEWS!
1. Prologue

The Visions of Heroes

by StormesJay

**prologue**

Aerrow slowly dropped from the airshaft of the wrecked ship. He knew it was dangerous to be in Terra Deep, home of the Merc Raiders, but the scanner had picked up such high crystal energy levels that they had to go. He consciously looked around the room before taping on his ear piece, "Finn, what's your status?"

Finn stood up from his crouch and held his ear piece, looking around. He raised his crossbow in alertness, "I'm fine, but Junko headed west to find to other crystal."

Aerrow responded, "Right, make sure you stay alert." he tapped his ear piece twice, "Piper, anything new?"

Piper kept a strong hold of her pipe. She blinked eagerly, "I'm looking around the entire area, but I don't see the crystal yet, but my scanner's going crazy..."

"Keep in touch." He tapped, "Stork, where are you on the ship? Anywhere near the crystal?"

Stork walked cautiously toward a corner of the ship, twitching when Aerrow began to talk, "Nothing yet, but my peepers are picking _something_ up..."

Junko lifted a chunk of metal up, searching for the crystal, "Junko, what's your status? Anything yet?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, no sign of the-- hold on a sec... I think I found something." Aerrow left the channel open for everyone to talk.

"Y'know, there's only one crystal that could do this alone." Piper cut in as she approached the cause of her scanner's interest, "And that's a helix stone."

Finn blinked, "Yeah, but what if there's a bunch of them together?" he lifted a chunk of metal off of a glowing piece of machinery.

Stork pulled a slice of metal out of the way, exposing a bomb, hooked up to four bomber crystals, "Uhh, guys? I think we need to leave."

Junko lifted his flashlight to a wall, lighting up a merc raiders insignia, "Oh boy! We need to leave!" He turned and saw his bomb, "Whoa!"

Aerrow saw the bomb near him, "Noted. Let's go!"

Piper shook her head, "Hold on! I think I see-- oh!" she saw her bomb, "Ah!"

Finn's eyes widened, "Aw man!" he lowered his crossbow reluctantly. The bombs went off with a loud bang, sending a concussion through out the entire ship.


	2. Chapter i

The Visions of Heroes

by StormesJay

chapter **o n e**

Aerrow could only feel the dull pain in his torso. As desperately as he tried to open his eyes, they stayed shut. He could hear a constant ringing in his ears. A cold, stinging chill raised up his back. He slowly faded out of consciousness, losing the feelings he was experiencing only a few moments ago.

* * *

The brisk air was Aerrow's favorite aspect of sky riding. Atmosia was beautiful in the early morning. This was where he had grown up, gaining so many things and yet losing he one thing he truly wanted. It had been two years since his father had died in at sky, but Aerrow still bared fresh wounds from the incident. He slowly wheeled his skimmer into the garage of his home, praying his mother would not be awakened by the skid of his wheels. She probably did, even though he was as silent as possible.

"Where were you?" he heard, his movement coming to a halt, "I was worried sick." His mother walked into the line of sight, "Were you out riding that piece of metal again?"

"Mom! I was just taking it out for a test run!" Aerrow attempted to stop the conversation by walking into the house.

"Don't you even touch that door!" He turned, "We are going to talk about this young man."

"B-"

"No buts." She crossed her arms, "I am tired of your excuses! You're too young to be doing this!"

"Mom, please! You can be any age to ride a skimmer like this! Please don't over react!" Aerrow strained his whisper, "Can we just go inside? It's cold out."

"No. We need to talk about this! If you keep doing this then you'll end up like your father."

Aerrow stopped, "Why don't you let me then? Have you ever thought that's what I might want to do? I might want to be a sky-knight! I might want to be a hero! I might--"

"Want to be dead?! I don't think so. You should stay here and get a useful job." She walked past him, opening the door, "I don't care how much you want to get your own squad and find the Condor, you are not going to! Now get inside. It's cold."

Aerrow gave his mother an ice cold stare as he passed by. He slammed the door to his room loud enough for the entire neighborhood to hear. He sat down sternly on his bed staring straight ahead.

_"I love you son. You know that, right?"_

_"Yeah, Dad! I love you too!"_

That's when it occurred to him. His mother loved him, dearly, but wouldn't listen to him. He never really cared for Atmosia anyway. Yes, it'll work! All he would need to do is leave a note, and his conscience would be clear. Then he could follow his dream.

* * *

Aerrow placed the note on the table with a bag of money, scanning it over once again to check for his clarity and stern tone.

Dear Mom,

I've left. Don't try and find me, please. I love you, but I have to follow my heart, which you are holding back. I'll send you letters every month to let you know I'm okay.

Aerrow.

He looked down and walked out of his house, carrying what he had on his back, he was alone now, forced into adulthood by his actions. He only had the skies left now. He felt a jerk from the back of his skimmer. His head yanked forward before he leaned back to see what was going on. A mixture of steam and smoke was flowing out of the engine, "What? Ugh... The crystal conversion unit!" he sighed, at least he was close to Terra Lyn, which was filled with mechanics. The first shop he saw was the one he entered; Highwind's Parts and Mechanics. He slid roughly into the driveway of a shop, stopping with a grunt from the engine. He walked inside, rolling his ride in after him and approaching one of the garage workers, "Hi, my bike's CCU is busted, do you guys fix them here?"

The man turned, a toothpick hanging out of his mouth and a pair of goggles resting on his forehead, "You bet we do." the mechanic said in a rough, rugged voice, "Go ahead and roll it in over next to that one."

Aerrow looked over and saw a similar model to his own. This skimmer had been modified for speed and maneuverability, definitely a good model, "It's nice." He put down the kick stand, "What's it in here for?"

"Just some final tune ups. It's my son's. He's out back if you want to meet him." The mechanic smiled, "Alright, we'll have you fixed up in no time."

"Thanks. Out back, right?" Once he received the nod he walked out to the area.

"There's no way you'll hit it. The sun's still rising!" One of them said.

"None of us have hit it! What makes you so good, huh?"

Aerrow approached the group of people. He managed to fit through the small crowd and saw who was most likely the owner of the ride in the garage. His hair was a light, golden blonde, his eyes were a deep blue, and his face glowed with confidence. He lifted his crossbow to the target, an impossible to hit can on a fence forty feet away.

* * *

Aerrow opened his eyes once more seeing a familiar face, "Junko... Wallops can take a beating, huh?" He gave a weak smile.

Junko smiled back, "Yeah, you betchya!" He pulled a chunk of contorted metal off of Aerrow's chest, "Are you okay?"

"I think..." He tried to sit up. A jolt of sharp pain shot into his left lung, "Hold that thought..." He fell back, "I think something's broken..."

"It's okay. I'll help you." Junko pulled Aerrow up as gently as a Wallop could. Aerrow winced as he was put back down in the ground. Junko brushed his shoulders off and turned, "We need to find the others...!"


	3. Chapter ii

chapter **t w o**

Finn clutched the ground in front of him, locked underneath a large metal pillar. The pain in his leg was getting worse and worse, but at least it was keeping him awake. His vision grew blurry until he heard the voices of Aerrow and Junko calling his name, "Finn! Finn, where are you?!" they would call. Out of sheer desperation, Finn let out a pained scream that slowly grew into a cry. His leg hurt so bad, he would rather have it chopped off than continue to feel this way.

* * *

It was forty feet away, the small beer can. It had been tied to the fence to prevent it from falling over. He held his crossbow steadily, "Oh yeah? Watch this." He pulled the trigger back and fired the crossbow bolt. It pierced through the center of the can with a loud pop from the metal. He looked back at the group with a confident smirk, "What do ya think about that?"

The men gave him seething scowls. All except for one seemed so angry. They split apart, revealing the impressed teen behind them, "That's nice shooting."

"Thanks." Finn smiled, "Not like that many people enjoy it around here though." He raised his crossbow to his shoulder, propping it against his shoulder plate, "I'm Finn." he held out his hand.

"Aerrow." Aerrow took a hold of his hand. Finn could tell a lot from a person by their hand shake. Aerrow's was strong and confident; He was probably looking to sell or buys something.

Finn jutted his bottom lip out, "So, why are you here? Y'don't look like someone from Lyn."

"Oh, I had a problem with my CCU, so I'm getting it fixed." Aerrow put his hands on his hips, "With your skimmer you must be planning to do some pretty long distance riding."

"Ah, you saw it in there, huh? Not really. My dad, Cid, just likes to trip my ride." Finn passed Aerrow and headed for the shop, "So you just here to admire me and get you bike fixed, or are you lookin' for somethin'?"

"Well... I'm starting a sky knight squadron." Aerrow followed, "You know, if your interested, I need a sharp shooter."

Finn laughed, "Me? C'mon, man, you think a fourteen year old like me is going to be allowed to leave my terra? Please..." Finn sat down on one of the chairs just outside of the garage, pulling a cloth out of a bucket and cleaning his crossbow, "As much as I'd like to, I think I'd have to decline."

Aerrow's shoulders sunk, "You're probably right, but I'm the same age as you." Finn looked up at him, "And I'm not just starting any squadron, I'm starting the Storm Hawks."

Finn paused, thinking, "Really, I do want to, but I think my dad would kill me if I left him to fend for himself at his shop."

Aerrow nodded, "I give you a day to think about it. Talk with your father, he might disagree with what you saying." He turned and headed for town. Finn looked on at him longingly. He didn't bring it up to his father that night.

A day passed with no word from Finn. He looked out his window and saw Aerrow preparing for flight. He leaned on one hand and sighed, "I'm not cut out for it anyway..." he closed the blinds and turned away.

Aerrow began to roll forward on his bike. The rumbling from the engine pulled him forward before he dove off of the edge of the terra, deploying his wings and setting for flight. He only made it a short distance before hearing the screams from Terra Lyn. He looked back over his shoulder to see what was going on. The red glow of there crystals immediately let him know who they were; Cyclonians. He turned his skimmer around on a dime, speeding for the terra.

Cid slammed two of the Cyclonians in he jaw with a mop, "Finn! Where are you!?" he called. There was no answer. He grunted and spun, slamming at least three more of them. Aerrow landed and leaned tot he side, skidding his skimmer into a line of Cyclonians from behind.

He climbed off of his ride and ran over to Cid, "What's going on?"

"I have no idea!" he slammed another, "Kid, I need you to do something!" He turned and grabbed Aerrow's shoulder, "Find my son!"

Aerrow gave him a stern nod and turned, only to see he was surrounded, along with Cid, "I think we might have to take care of these guys first." Cid gritted his teeth and crouched in a battle ready stance. It looked like the end for the two. Suddenly four of the men were gunned down. Aerrow looked over his shoulder at the roof of the mechanic's shop. Finn gave him a two-finger salute and continued to fire, taking down five more, leaving only two for Cid and Aerrow to finish. Aerrow sent a charged blast into one of the Cyclonians' stomachs, while Cid slammed the last one in the crotch. Aerrow looked ahead and saw a large Cyclonian tank heading for the center of town, "Finn! Shoot the tank's engine!" he ordered.

"Got it!" Finn aimed and quickly fired, bull's eyeing an engine, blowing the engine and stopping the tank. Cid pulled out a stick of dynamite and lit it on the cigarette in his mouth before throwing it under the tank. The stick blew, knocking the tank over and sending the Cyclonians inside running in fright. He looked back to the building his son stood on. Finn smiled a bit before sliding down. He walked up to the group and lowered his crossbow, "Sorry it took so long."

Cid gave him a wide smile, "Looks like you made it just in time." He leaned his mop against his shoulder.

Aerrow gave him a longed smile, "Well, I better be going." He turned to his skimmer.

Finn held his hand up, "Wait!" Aerrow turned. Finn looked to Cid, "Dad... Can I join his squadron? I swear it'll be good! It's the Storm Hawks even! I'll--"

Cid put his hand on his son's shoulder, "With your shooting I was expecting this. Sure, you can go. You just check up with me, y'hear?"

Finn smiled widely, "Really?! Wow! Thanks Dad! I swear you'll be happy!" He gave Cid a quick hug before rushing for his skimmer. Aerrow smiled happily as Finn rolled to his side and flew off with him.

* * *

Wouldn't his father be proud? Finn felt the large chunk of metal lifted off of him. His vision was blurry and dark, like he was underwater, but he could tell who his saviors were, "Thanks..." He winced as he was pulled up by Junko, "My leg--!!" he gasped in pain when the slightest bit of weight was put on his injured limb. Junko quickly held him up and pulled his legs up in his other arm, cradling him gently.

"Who's closest?" Aerrow asked.

"Well, Piper, I think, but don't you think we should split up to find both of them?" Junko tilted his head.

"No. We're not splitting up again!"


	4. Chapter iii

chapter ** t h r e e**

Piper was on her stomach against the cold metal ground. She slowly opened her eyes, becoming aware of her position. Her legs and waist were locked under a blown in door. She placed her hand on the door and attempted to push. She was unsuccessful due to a mixture of the door's weight and her weakness. She fell back against the metal floor and looked across the room weakly. Starting to hear her friends, "Piper!!" Finn's voice rang through the cold air. She laid her head against the floor, her cheek growing cold with the cold metal.

* * *

Piper took a large bite of her biscuit as she looked through her telescope. She spotted her subject; A White Belly Crested Dafiwing. She smiled, "Aren't you beautiful?" She put her biscuit down and pulled a journal out of her bag, writing and speaking aloud, "Subject spotted in natural habitat, seems to be male, searching for female." She dotted her period. She felt a gust of wind next to her. She quickly looked over to see the female, trying to snatch her food, "Hey!" she grabbed hold of the food, keeping a tight grip on her journal with the other hand. The two fought for the food before Piper lost, losing her balance and rolling off the edge of the hill, tumbling down to a pile of bushes. She wearily sat up, leaves and twigs caught in her hair. She opened her journal, "Female mate spotted, either nesting or very hungry." She blew a lock of hair out of her face, frustrated. She heard a loud thud a few yards away. She pulled the leaves of the bush out of the way cautiously, seeing a pair of Cyclonians standing in front of two teenagers.

The redheaded teenager was tall, his eyes were an emerald shade of green, and his armor seemed to be welded together by hand. The second teenager, the blonde one, dawned similar clothes, but his hair was golden blonde and his eyes ocean blue. The Cyclonians began to close in. Piper gave a scowl before pulling a rod out of a holster on her back. She jumped out from behind the bushes, slamming one of them in the back. The two teens stood as she fought with the second. The talon slammed her in the chest with a blast from his crystal blade, knocking her onto her back. The talon walked up to her, holding his blade to her neck, "Poor little birdie gonna get hurt." he patronized.

There was a loud clank noise. Piper winced in fear before opening her eyes again to see the talon fall to the ground, revealing the redhead, "Better think twice about hurting this birdie..." he said smoothly. She slowly stood up, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Who are you guys? What are you doing on Terra Amazonia?" She put her hand on her hip.

The blonde slunk out from behind the bushed, "Ah, yeah, I was just trying to find my- uhh... crossbow!" he held up his crossbow. Piper gave him a quizzical stare.

The redhead held his hand to his chest, "Well, I'm Aerrow." He pointed to the blonde, "That's Finn. We're the Storm Hawks."

"The Storm Hawks? Like the legendary ones?" She smiled.

"Well, not exactly. We're... the next generation, so to speak." Aerrow gave a nervous smile, "And your name is?"

"Piper." She held her hand out, "Now once again, why are you guys here?"

Aerrow took hold of her hand, "We were trying to find a certain crystal. It's supposed to locate a certain power signal that we need to find to get to the Condor."

Finn scratched his head and looked at the two knocked out guards, "We were caught by these guys, we think they're lookin' for the same thing."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "The Condor... The old ship that the Storm Hawks used to fly in? That means you're looking for a beacon crystal!" she smiled widely.

"You sure know a whole lot. Where did you learn?" Aerrow smiled at her.

Piper paused and looked down, "Well, I don't have a teacher. I kind of taught myself."

Aerrow, despite her sorrowful stare, looked amazed, "You learned all of this by yourself? What else do you know?"

Piper smiled, "A lot! I know about navigation, crystals, history, legend, re-con, tactics..." she seemed to go on and on. Aerrow felt nervous to interrupt her, but Finn seemed to be missing that part of his brain that said 'This would be rude.'.

"Okay, okay, okay. You know a lot,. We know. What can you tell us about the beacon crystal?" he crossed his arms and sneered.

Piper gave a pregnant pause and glare, "... I know that it's under heavy Cyclonian guard. This place is patrolled by the highest rank of talons. Worst of all, the captain of the talons here is the Dark Ace."

Aerrow thought for a moment, "Then we're just gonna have to sneak in and steal it." he began to walk back to his skimmer.

Piper grabbed his arm quickly, "Wait! You cant just try to sneak in there. Do you even know where you're going?!" The was an awkward silence, "I can help you, you know. I have just what you guys need!"

Finn shook his head, "Sorry, but we don't need any--"

"What is it?" Aerrow pulled his arm free gently.

"Well... I have this." she pulled a map out of the bag resting on her hip, "It a map of the complex where the crystal's being held. And... you two could use those uniforms to sneak in."

Aerrow reached for the map, but it was pulled back by Piper, "What?"

"I need payment for this." She put her hand on her hip, dangling the map playfully.

Aerrow sighed, "We don't have much money... but I guess I could give you this." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small bag of money, "It's all we have."

Piper stared at the money, "... I have an idea. you let me in on the team, and I'll help you with getting that crystal. And, promise me I can study it."

Aerrow smiled happily, "Sure!"

Finn's jaw dropped as the redhead slipped the bag back into his pocket, "You aren't doing this! We just met her and you're letting her on the team!? C'mon, Aerrow! Even I'm not that gullible." he crossed his arm sternly.

Aerrow shook his head, "Calm down, Finn. I think she's the perfect addition to our team. Welcome to the Storm Hawks, Piper." He offered his hand.

Piper took hold happily, "Happy to be here, Aerrow."

* * *

Piper winced as the metal was pulled off of her, "There you guys are. Are you okay?" she pulled her self up.

Aerrow nodded, "Yeah, we're fine. Are you?"

"Yeah, I think so. I just hit my head a bit." She rubbed the back of her head, "... Just a little sore."

Junko smiled, "Good! Let's go find st--" he walked directly into a hole in the floor.

"Junko!" Finn screamed as he fell.


	5. Chapter iv

chapter **f o u r**

Junko felt the weight of his body disappear as he fell. He quickly grabbed a chunk of the support beam hanging off the ship. It began to bend with his weight. He could see his friend looking over the edge shouting to him. He looked down, seeing the foggy deeps below.

* * *

Terra Wallop had always been an unaccepting place for Junko. He was strong, and he was a Wallop, but he had never been as angry or mean as they were. He had always been the charitable friend people needed; People, but not Wallops. The only Wallops on the entire terra that seemed to accept him at all was his family. His aunt seemed to adopt him from his actual parents, not that he minded.

Junko wearily sat on the steps outside his house, frowning unhappily. This was one of the few time during the month he would visit, and he had just been in a horrible argument with his parents. His aunt walked by him, spotting his sorrowful expression, "What's wrong, Junko, darlin'?" she sat down next to him.

Junko gave a heavy sigh and looked at her, "Aw, Dad says I'll never amount to anything if I keep acting this way."

"Aw, my poor dear." she rubbed his back.

"I just don't know how else I'm supposed to act. I've been doing everything they've said, and I'm strong... But I guess I just don't meet up to what they thought I'd be." He dropped his head.

"Now don't you say that. I have an idea." She smiled, "If you can get a boomer crystal from the inner caves of the fist rock, your parents will be sure to appreciate you more."

"Will you come with me?" Junko looked up at her.

"No, dear, I'm sorry, but that is something you have to do on your own." She stood up, "If you head to the fist now, you'll be able to get the crystal before dark. Now hurry."

Junko stood, beaming, "Thank you, Auntie!" he quickly hugged her before running off for the fist rock.

Finn looked around the area, "Okay we have the beacon crystal. So, can you tell me why we're on Terra Wallop?" He looked back at Piper.

"Look, the beacon crystal is out of power. and the only compatible charger is a boomer crystal. They have tons of them here." She climbed off of her scooter, the boys following, "It won't be easy to get though... They're usually found in the deep caverns beneath the fist rock." She pointed to the Terra's land mark, a giant rock shaped like a fist, "They're usually pretty dangerous."

"Why?" Aerrow raised an eyebrow.

"Rock slides, earthquakes, cave-ins, stuff like that could all be the end of us. Anyhow, we need to get in there fast, and leave even quicker." She pulled out another one of her maps, unrolling it and looking at it closely, "Right, we should take the left entrance."

"Why not the right?" Finn was interrupted by Aerrow.

"Left entrance it is then." Aerrow smiled a bit and followed her.

Finn frowned before following the two reluctantly.

"This is the right way, c'mon!" Piper looked over her shoulder as she entered. Aerrow followed faithfully, while Finn was much less than pleased.

Finn took hold of his arm, "Hey, Aerrow, why are we listening to **everything** Piper says? It's like she's been the boss ever since she joined."

Aerrow looked at him for a moment, "What are you talking about, Finn? She might be our navigator, but she's not in charge by a long shot. Just calm down. She's just pointing out the way to get the boomer crystal." He pulled his arm free and continued to follow Piper.

Finn gave him a glare from behind, "Yeah, right. Whatever." He stopped just outside of the entrance, looking over to the right, "I'll take the high road." he smirked and ran off.

Junko walked into the right entrance of the large rock formation, "Don't worry, Dad, I won't let the family name down!" he began to run.

They were already nearly a mile in by the time that Aerrow noticed the absence of his squadron member, "Finn...?" he turned around, seeing nothing.

Piper turned around, "What's wrong? Come on." She started to continue walking.

"No, Finn's missing. We need to find him." Aerrow stood still.

Piper quickly turned, "Wait a second... He's taken the right entrance!" She began to run back out.

Aerrow raised an eyebrow, "What's wrong with the right entrance?" he asked before following in a sprint.

"There are two entrances for a reason." She explained, "One is for races like us, and the other is for Wallops! If Finn's gone into right entrance, then he'll die! It's too dangerous!" Aerrow's eye widened once she finished talking.

Junko continued to walk down the tunnel, noticing a figure a few yards ahead, "Oh, hello?" he called. The figure didn't even twitch. He noticed the size and color of the being, "You're not a Wallop. You shouldn't be in here, buddy! You might get hur--" he notice the rubble the boy was under, "Oh!" he immediately began to dig him out, "Don't worry! I'll help you!" He pulled the boy free and held him close, "Hey, are you awake?"

"For... what reason am I being prosecuted? I am not a wiggle bill like you say I am!" Finn babbled, barely conscious, "Give me the coffee sentence! I'll take it!"

Junko pouted and raised a brow, "It's okay! I'll get you out of here!" He stood up and began to run for the exit, carrying Finn with him.

Aerrow and Piper ran through the right entrance, desperately calling his name, "Finn! Finn!!" Aerrow screamed.

Junko saw them and stopped, "Hey! Do you two know him?" he called.

Aerrow drew his weapons, "Careful! Wallops are notoriously bad tempered!"

Piper nodded and drew her rod, "Just put him down and we won't hurt you!"

Junko raised an eyebrow, "But I'm not hurting him! I'm trying to get him out-- Watch out!" He pulled them just as they got within his arm's reach and got them out of the way of a rain of boulders. As the dust cleared the light was cut off by the last two boulders falling in the way of the exit.

Aerrow sat up, "Piper! Where are you?" he called as he walked around, tripping with a grunt.

"Under your leg." Piper mumbled as she pulled out a solar crystal and hooked it onto the end of the rod, lighting it up and revealing the area, "Where's Finn?"

Junko stood up, "He's here! Don't worry, he's okay!"

Aerrow picked up his blades and aimed them, "Just step away from him!"

"Just calm down, okay?" Junko held his hands up, "I'm different from other Wallops! I've never hurt anyone."

Aerrow blinked and lowered his weapons, "You're not going to hurt him?"

"N-no! I'm going to help you guys! Here..." He walked over to the wall of boulders, pulling a small bomb from his pocket. and placing it in one of the opened crevasses, "Okay, back away!" he ran to the other side of the cavern and covered Finn's limp body. Aerrow and Piper joined him and ducked as the bomb went off, making a large hole in the wall of rocks.

Aerrow sat up and smiled, "Wow!"

Piper gave a smirk as she turned the solar crystal off, "I guess he's not so bad after all."

Junko picked Finn up, "Come on, let's get out of here before something else falls."

The light was blinding at first, but only for a few seconds before their vision returned to normal. Aerrow stopped and looked back at Junko, "What's your name?"

Junko gave a sweet smile as he lowered Finn onto he ground, "Well, I'm Junko."

"Well, Junko... Are you interested in a job?"

Junko grinned widely, "Really? Well first id have to ask my parents--.. Oh, no! I was supposed to get a boomer crystal in there! No! Now my parents will never--..." he hung his head.

His aunt ran to his side, "Honey! What's going on?"

"Oh, nothing, Auntie... I just didn't get a boomer crystal, that's all..."

"No, no. I mean who are your friends?"

Aerrow offered his hand, "I'm Aerrow, this is Piper, and that's Finn. We're the Storm Hawks."

Junko's aunt took his hand and shook it strongly, "Why, hello there."

Once his hand was released he shook it in pain, "We were just offering Junko a job."

His aunt's eyes glittered, "Really! That's wonderful!"

Junko shook his head, "But I'll never be allowed to leave. Mom and Dad'll think I'll die on the first trip..."

"Honey, you have my permission." She smiled widely, "That's all you need."

"What we really need is a boomer crystal, but we're running too short on day light. Do you know where we can get one?" Piper asked.

His aunt paused for a moment before reaching into the pocket of her apron, "Here." She handed the group a boomer crystal, "Now all of you get going. That means all of you." She smiled at Junko.

* * *

Junko was pulled up by his three friends. He rolled onto his back, exhausted, "Thank guys..." he panted.

Aerrow patted his shoulder, "Don't worry, we're not leaving anyone behind here. Now let's find Stork." He stood up.


End file.
